Auerbach founded Sanergy with two classmates while a student at MIT Sloan. The company tackles multiple sustainability challenges at the same time, training franchisees in Nairobi’s urban slums to collect sanitation waste, which is then processed into fertilizer and later sold to local farmers. Sanergy is poised to expand to other countries in the developing world, addressing the urban sanitation problem that threatens the health of more than a billion people.

Sustainable development goal target 12.5 is to reduce waste. But with a planet increasingly dependent on technology, is that even possible?

As of today, over 30m tonnes of electronic waste has been thrown out so far this year, according to the World Counts. Most e-waste is sent to landfills in Asia and Africa where it is recycled by hand, exposing the people who do it to environmental hazards. Photograph: Kai Loeffelbein/laif

Kai Loeffelbein’s photographs of e-waste recycling in Guiyu, southern China show what happens to discarded computers.

The direct links of WinS to SDG2 (health), SDG6 (water and sanitation) and SDG4 (education) pose the chance for increased inter-sectoral cooperation. Thereby, the education sector’s leadership and management are critical to broad-scale implementation and success of WinS. Yet, how is the education sector taking WASH on board and how can the sector manage it? How does the reality look like in schools around the world? What does it take for better-managed WinS? What shifts/changes are necessary to see the situation change?

Building on the SuSanA Working Group 7 (Community, Rural & Schools) meeting during the Stockholm Water Week 2016, we would like to address these and other questions in order to get a better understanding of the challenges and needs of the education sector to successfully manage WASH in schools.

In particular, we will structure our discussion along two topics – (1) Policy Issues on the Regional and Global Level and (2) Implementation Level/Matters of Implementation.

For both topics, experts from both the WASH and the education sector will provide leadership, food for thought and a profound insight into the topic. Questions raised by Forum Users will also be addressed.

Discussing WASH in school and the education sector’s role and potential for leadership, we propose the following schedule:

The sanitation campaign in India is helping Rajasthan become a top performing state in ending open defecation. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan declared sanitation as one of the state’s top development priorities, with a target of eliminating open defecation by 2018.

To bring this vision to fruition, an innovative Community Led Total Sanitation Campaign (CLTS) was launched in many districts with the leadership of district collectors.

The approach focuses on crucial issues: Behavior Change and Demand Creation. From Health Centers, to Schools, to door-to-door visits, the message of sanitation and hygiene was effectively communicated.

Health is blooming, one home at a time. One village at a time. And Rajasthan is on course to becoming open defecation free.

Calgary artist Erin Moffatt took what she called a “crappy” situation and turned it into the piles of colourful nuggets at the centre of her artwork with the hope of drawing attention to a cause close to her heart.

Erin Moffatt, a laid off engineer, started a new business with a line of artwork called Poop Heart, to help raise awareness of poor sanitation in impoverished countries.

Moffatt, 35, a U of C graduate, lost her job as a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas industry at the start of the economic downturn last year. She turned to her artsy side and a hobby to create the line of artwork and novelty items called Poop Heart.

The goal of Moffatt’s potty humour was first to solve a bathroom decorating problem, but it evolved into an idea she’s passionate about, educating people about sanitation problems in impoverished countries. Her knowledge of the Calgary-based organization, Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation (CAWST) inspired her.

Until she wraps up her Kickstarter fundraiser by July 11, 10 per cent of the proceeds go to CAWST, but she’s aiming for much more than that in the future.

Eddy Perez is a Professor of Practice in Sanitation at the Emory School of Public Health’s Center for Global Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

In his recent conversation with Global Waters Radio, Perez talks about his career in the sanitation sector, shares lessons he has learned along the way, and explains why sanitation improvements in both rural and urban areas must remain a programming priority in international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Perez discusses both the challenges and opportunities inherent in the global development community’s pursuit of SDG 6.2, which within 15 years aims to “achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation” — an enormous task.

Wetlands Work! Cambodia’s submission to the Civil Society Innovation Award sponsored by the Australian Aid program, May 2016. The Handy Pod is a floating toilet design suitable to the communities of the Tonle Sap lake area and uses wetlands treatment technology.

Diana You can look at the role of MFIs in Kenya in Sanitation here. I was part of the team that did the evaluation of a program called WaterCredit supported by MasterCard Foundation. rwsnforum7.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/f...335_gupta_sanjay.pdf If you need more detail, you can write to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need Ja […]

Hi Everyone, This is turning out be a very informative discussion. Hopefully, someone from the corporate sector can share their insights. I agree with Nitya- for incentivisation, we need to reward companies for their behavior rather than adopt a "shame" approach. Our experience with corporates is that many of them are not well versed with what sani […]

Showers use a lot of water, which is drained off. When warm water is used, also the heat is lost unless a heat recovery system has been installed. To combat water and heat wastage the Upfallshower has been developed. The Upfallshower recycles 90% of the water, thus saving 90% of the water and energy requirements. The recycled water is filtered and UV desinfe […]

In my experience, if you are planning a biogas then perhaps using the same for cooking is fine but electricity is a more complicated process and not very suitable for IDP set up. THese require regular maintenance. So even if you are able to procure one, getting timely services and repair will be tough. You will usually not find these services locally.

Hi all, my name is Sanjay K Gupta and I work at Skat Switzerland. The outreach of companies for incentivizing sanitation, particular in rural sanitation is limited, unless the company having its CSR fund particularly focuses on rural segment of the population. Many of the companies themselves need orientation on sanitation and then developing a CSR plan that […]